Countdown
by Jack Rippling
Summary: Izuku is considered by his whole class to be quirkless, even by himself. Even though he was told that he was supposed to develop a quirk, Izuku has lived his life as a quirkless loser because he can't seem to get his quirk to manifest. Little does he know that he's already manifested his quirk. He just needs a little push to become even greater than he could even have imagined.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer

This story is based on a fanfiction I found on a site called Wattpad. I liked the idea but felt the the execution could have been done better. If you want to read the original story then you can find it here (  story/124496788-counting-on-him ). Credit for the idea goes to KingSkyFyre.

Chapter 1

Not all men are created equal.

That's the sad truth I learned when I was just 4 years old. Even among those with gifts, there will always be those who simply got luckier than others. Years ago, a glowing baby was born in japan. Ever since then, more and more strange powers started to appear all over the world. These powers, which came to be known as quirks, soon started causing causes as the crime rates shot up drastically. However as governments struggled to change their laws quick enough to cope with the sudden development of superpowers, brave individuals and groups rose up to defend the people. These people came to be known as heroes, and soon they were everywhere. Now 80% of the population has a quirk of some kind. My name is Izuku Midoriya, and this is the story of how I became the world's greatest hero.

Izuku is very excited. Today is the day that he finally gets to go to the doctor and see if he's going to get a quirk. Izuku couldn't help but run around, filled with so much energy that he felt like he was about to burst. His friend Bakugou had already gotten a really cool quirk. He could make really pretty sparks. Izuku can't wait to see what he'll get. Maybe he'll even get a quirk cool enough that he can be a hero like his idol, All Might, the greatest hero in the world. Just the thought of it sends Izuku to cloud nine. Izuku's mother Inko ushers him into their car and drives off to the doctor's office.

The trip was rather quick for Izuku. He was so excited the the entire trip passes in a flash. Before he knows it he's sitting with his mother in the doctor's waiting room, with the same excited look on his face that he's had the entire time. Soon his name is called and he rushes into the doctor office with his mother following behind. This is, until he realizes he doesn't know where the doctor's office is. He stops in the middle of the hallway and Inko catches up to him.

"Izuku, I know you're excited, but you can't go rushing off."

Izuku blushes a little and chuckles with just a bit of embarrassment.

"Sorry mom. I'm just so excited. I can't wait to find out what my quirk will be!"

Inko chuckles to herself. Izuku's enthusiasm was very infectious.

"Well then, let's not keep the doctor waiting."

Inko leads Izuku into the doctor's office. The doctor introduces himself and begins testing Izuku. He took X-rays of izuku's body, took some blood samples, pricked Izuku with some strange things, and did a couple other things that Izuku doesn't understand. It takes about an hour, but soon it's over and Izuku is anticipating the news. The doctor puts up some of Izuku's X-rays on a glow board before sitting down in his chair and addressing Izuku and Inko.

"Alright, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is: your son will almost certainly develop a quirk."

The doctor points at Izuku's X-rays.

"His body lacks the extra joint that most quirkless children have, so it's almost guaranteed that he'll develop a quirk."

Izuku jumps to his feet and shout in excitement. Inko on the other hand is a bit more worried.

"And what's the bad news?"

The doctor straighten himself in his chair before continuing.

"The bad news is, we have no idea what the quirk will be. We can normally tell what someone's quirk might be because it alters their biology is some fashion or another. For example: someone with a super strength quirk would have much greater muscle mass, or someone with the ability to shoot quills would show signs of new glands in their skin to accommodate the sudden growth of their projectiles. However, your son has nothing like that. Except for the standard streamlining that comes with having a quirk, I can't find anything to indicate that his body even has a quirk."

Izuku's enthusiasm suddenly shatters.

"W-what does that mean?"

The doctor sighs.

"It means that we won't know what your quirk is until it manifests. But there's no need to worry, the odds of one not developing are astronomical. Worst case scenario, you end up being a late bloomer. That's nothing to be ashamed of."

Izuku sighs in relief.

"Alright, thank you sir."

The doctor smile and stands up.

"My pleasure. Thank you for visiting. Now, I've taken up enough of your day. You should probably move along."

Inko nods and leads Izuku out of the doctor's office. She drove him home and made Katsudon for dinner.

A couple weeks later, Izuku and Bakugou are walking in the woods. Bakugou is leading the way While Izuku follows behind.

"Man Bakugou, your quirk is so cool. I hope mine will be as cool as yours when it finally shows up."

Bakugou looks back at Izuku as he walks confidently forwards.

"What did they say your quirk is?"

Izuku looks down at the ground, a lot less confident than his friend.

"They said that they couldn't figure it out. He said that if worst comes to worst that I might just be a late bloomer."

Bakugou just laughs at izuku's dilema.

"Stupid Deku. He was just trying to not hurt your feelings. That what doctors say when they don't want to tell you that you're quirkless."

Izuku stops as he feels his heart crack.

"You, you really think so?"

Bakugou faces back towards the path.

"Face it, you're just quirkless."

Izuku looks down at the ground and starts to tear up.

'No, It can't be true. I'll develop a quirk and then I'll be just as strong as All Might.'

Even though Izuku thought that, he couldn't shake the doubt building in his heart.

A couple years later, and Izuku has yet to manifest a quirk or any signs of a quirk. Izuku's hope continues to dwindle as each and every day passes. Izuku still has a little hope though. There's still the possibility that he might develop a quirk and be able to show Bakugou that he can also be a hero. Speaking of which: Izuku is swinging idly on a swing when suddenly he hears the tell tale sound of a small explosion from Bakugou. Izuku turns and sees that he and two of his cronies are trying to beat up another, slightly chubbier, kid in a red shirt and brown shorts. Izuku leaps off of his swing and runs between the kid and Bakugou.

"I-I'm not going to let you hurt him K-Kacchan."

Bakugou is a bit surprised that this quirkless hero wanna be would have the audacity to stand in his way. It's actually rather amusing. Bakugou laughs and his hands sparks.

"Oh yeah? And just what are you going to do about it?"

Izuku was shaking in his boots. Standing up to Kacchan was really scary. Especially since his explosions could be very powerful. Izuku wearily raises his shaking fists and takes a basic combat stance on his jittering legs.

"Then, then I'll stop you myself!"

Bakugou is actually dumbfounded. To think that Deku would actually say something like that. Bakugou bursts into laughter and his cronies join in. Bakugou stop laughing after a moment. Bakugou glares at Izuku with almost villainous intent.

"Alright."

Izuku looks like he's about to pee himself and/or start crying. Either way, he still stands his ground. Bakugou charges at Izuku. Izuku wants to close his eyes and try to just take the assault, but he doesn't. Izuku backs away from Bakugou's attack with a much calmer look on his face. This makes Bakugou angry and he dentonates some of his sweat with a yell. This blows Izuku away, who screams in pain. The other kid has been long gone by now so Bakugou and his cronies proceed to beat up Izuku without mercy.

Izuku limped home once Bakugou had stopped beating him up. It took a surprisingly long time for Bakugou to stop. It seemed like he was letting out a lot of anger on Izuku. Once he was home Inko sees him all roughed up and rushes over to him.

"Izuku! Are you alright honey?"

Izuku nods, even though it really hurts. Inko goes to get some burn cream. Izuku goes to his room and turns on his computer. He pulls up his favorite video. The video of when All Might first debuted. The screen shows the aftermath of a powerful earthquake, with fire in the distance. Then, crawling out of the rubble of the building, a large figure emerges carrying a bunch of Injured people. He boldly proclaims:

"NO NEED TO FEAR, FOR I AM HERE!"

Inko walks into Izuku's room with the burn cream and sees him sitting in front of the monitor. He turns around and Inko sees that Izuku is crying. Izuku points shakily at the monitor.

"D-do you think I can be a hero, even though I can't make my quirk show up?"

Inko rushes over to Izuku and hugs him tight as he cries.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Izuku continues to cry. On the night, he resigned himself to being essentially quirkless. Little did he know however, that there was much more to this than he had first imagined.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After that moment, life moved forwards. Even though to some it was a very painful life. Years passed and seasons changed. People grew and changed in their own way. Though some have changed much less than others. Bakugo being an example of one of those. Ever since the day that he told Izuku "Deku" Midoriya that he was quirkless, the boy had been reduced to a nervous wreck over the years. Meanwhile, Bakugou's torment of Izuku had only grown in scale, as did his own self assuredness. The more he beat down into Izuku, the more Izuku receded into his little shell of hero worship. Despite Bakugo's derision, Izuku still held onto his dream of becoming the world's greatest hero. However, you'd be forgiven for calling it more of a fantasy than a goal at times. Even so, Bakugou sometimes went out of his way to torment Izuku. Something about him irked Bakugou the wrong way.

It's a nice sunny day outside. Today would have been a totally average day, if it weren't for a massive creature rampaging on the train track. This villain had been caught stealing a purse and panicked. But in this day and age, this is more average than many would like. As people gather around the fight between the villain and a hero that has just arrived, Izuku joins the crowd. He shuffles his way to the front to get a better view of the action. Once Izuku has worked his way to the front, he pulls a notebook and a pencil out of his backpack. He starts taking notes as the villain and the hero fight. The hero is a newer one named Kamui Woods. He has a plant controlling quirk. His skin appears to be made of wood, with a wooden mask and a blue jumpsuit. Kamui Woods swings away from one of the villain's strikes and lands on the roof of the train station.

"Illegal use of Powers during rush hour, assault, and robbery. You're true evil."

The villain simply roars at Kamui Woods. Kamui Woods rears his hand back and seems to be preparing an attack.

"You're punishment is..."

Kamui Woods throws out his right arm and suddenly wooden vines start shooting out from his arm.

"Preemptive Binding Lacquered chain-"

However, before they can reach the villain, the villain is suddenly struck by a flying kick from another hero who's appeared seemingly from nowhere.

"CANYON CANNON!"

The hero also has a gigantification quirk. She's wearing a skintight white and purple jumpsuit, accentuating her voluptuous curves. Reportings suddenly appear out of the woodworks, all aiming for the money shot. Izuku fervently scribbles away at his notebook while mumbling to himself as the villain is arrested by the police.

"A gigantification quirk? It's common and powerful, but the possible destruction of-"

Izuku's train of thought is interrupted when one of the other bystanders calls out to him.

"Yo kid! You taking notes? You want to be a hero too?"

Izuku looks at the man. He looks relatively normal, except for the fact that he has three star shaped growths coming out of his head. Izuku gives a big smile, filled with great joy as he answers without hesitation.

"More than anything."

The sounds of the city play in the background as the school day progressed towards its inevitable end. Izuku is sitting in the back of his class with his head down, listening to his teacher. Izuku's wearing the only uniform Bakugou hasn't destroyed, yet. The teacher then starts to raise his voice, a serious glare carved onto his face.

"You third years need to start thinking carefully about your futures!"

The teacher reaches under his desk and pulls out a stack of papers.

"Now, I would hand out the career form, but..."

The teacher's face suddenly lights up with a smile as he throws the papers into the air.

"I know you all want to be heros!"

The entire class, except for Izuku and Bakugou, let out a cheer as they all show off their quirks. The teacher grabs a paper on his desk and taps it a few times to try and get everyone's attention.

"Yes yes, you all have very nice quirks, but you can't use them in school."

Suddenly Bakugou loudly interjects.

"Sensei, don't lump me in with these losers! They'd be lucky to end up as sidekicks to some b-roll hero!"

The rest of the class, except for Izuku, explode at Bakugou with shouts of "Get over yourself" and the like. The teacher looks over the paper and then looks back at Bakugou.

"Ah yes. You must be aiming for U.A. high."

The moment U.A. is mentioned, everyone hushes. U.A. is notorious for being nearly impossible to get into. Izuku is trying desperately to bury his head in his elbow and hoping the teacher won't read out-

"You're aiming for U.A. as well, aren't you Midoriya?"

That. If the room was still noisy before, it was silent now. Bakugou turns to Izuku with a scowl that could curdle milk on his face. Everyone knows the relationship between Bakugou and Midoriya, at least a little bit. They'd laugh, but it wasn't even funny. Izuku tries to swallow the frog in his throat while Bakugou is staring him down. Finally he manages a gulp and a nervous chuckle.

"Um, ye-"

Suddenly Bakugou slam's his hand into Izuku's desk, detonating some of his sweat and blowing Izuku's desk into pieces. The class look worried for a moment, but then out of the smoke Izuku jumps away from the shattered remains of his desk. There's a cut on his cheek and the front of his uniform is burn off, revealing his under shirt. For some reason that no one can figure out, his face is completely calm. However once the smoke clears, and he sees Bakugou standing still over the remains of his desk, his face turns to that of panic as he backs away from Bakugou into the wall.

"C-come on Kaa-chan. The-"

Bakugou slams both of his hands against the wall, each to the side of Izuku's head, looming over him with his deep glare.

"If you think you can handle it in the big leagues, you're more delusional than I thought. Quirkless weaklings don't make it in hero society."

As the school day comes to a close, Izuku gathers his belongings and tries to leave as quickly as possible. However, as he's packing his stuff into his backpack, Bakugou grabs one of his hero notebooks. Bakugou flips through the notebook for a moment. Izuku stands up and tries to walk over to Bakugous.

"P-please give that b-back."

Bakugou glares at Izuku and raises an eyebrow. He closes the book in his hand and hold it up. Bakugou then slams his other hand into the book, detonating some of his sweat and almost completely frying the notebook. Large chunks of ash fall from the book as Bakugou tosses its ashy remains out of a nearby window. Izuku can only watch helplessly as this takes place. Bakugou slowly starts to close the distance between him and Izuku.

"Great heroes show promise when they're students. Even average heroes have quirks. You have neither. I'm going to be the only one from this crap highschool to get into U.A. and if you even think about trying to take the entrance exam..."

Bakugou places a hand on Izuku's shoulder, Izuku's uniform's shoulder begins to smolder.

"..well, then we're going to have a problem."

Bakugou starts to walk out of the room, but stop as he reaches the door. He then turns to face Izuku.

"But hey, maybe in your next life, you'll be a great hero. You can find out if you just take a step off of the roof."

Bakugou laughs as he walks out of the room, leaving Izuku just standing there with anger in his heart and tears streaming down his face. Izuku's clenches his fists before relaxing them and sighing in defeat. Izuku gathers the rest of his stuff and walks out of the school building. He walks around the building towards the ground underneath the window that Bakugou threw his notebook out of. All the while still mumbling to himself.

"Idiot. If I really jumped, he'd be charged with bullying me to suicide."

Izuku finds the remains of his charred notebook shattered across the ground. A strong wind picks up and takes the ashen pieces away from the scene. Izuku stares on, helpless to stop it.

"My dreams are just dust in the wind."

Izuku walks over to the only part of his notebook with any structural integrity left. He carefully puts it in his backpack so that it doesn't break even further, and he starts walking home. As Izuku is walking along, he thinks back to when he was first told that they couldn't figure out his quirk. No matter what he tried, he hasn't been able to get anything to happen. He's tried to breath fire, he's tries to move objects, and he's tried hundreds of ideas that are combinations of the two. But nothing has happened. Even so, Izuku is still determined to try and figure out what his quirk might be, even if it takes his entire life. When Izuku comes out of his own mind and sees that he's walked to some kind of small tunnel. Iuzku shrugs and keeps walking under the tunnel to get to his home. Suddenly there's a loud bang and Izuku turns around. He sees that a manhole cover just got blown off and smashed into the roof of the tunnel. Then a wet slurping sound resonates from the open manhole as a being made almost entirely out of slime starts to crawl his way out of the sewer. It's a large mass of green sludge. The only parts that aren't slime her his eyes and mouth. Izuku starts to back away from the person, fear etched into his face. The sludge villain gives his an evil glare.

"A medium sized body. Good to hide in."

Without warning the villain suddenly lunges at Izuku. The fear that was on Izuku's face suddenly disappears. This causes the villain to hesitate for just a second. Long enough for Izuku to grab a pencil and throw it at the villain's eye. The pencil flies straight and pierces the villain's eye. The villain screams and Izuku starts running away, the fear coming back to him with every step. However the villain soon recovers and gives chase after Izuku. However, before the sludge villain can reach Izuku, a loud BOOM resonates from inside the tunnel and a booming voice echoes out with the strength of ten men.

"Fear not kid! FOR I AM HERE!"

Out of the tunnel comes a massive figure. A man of enormous muscle and limitless power. With shiny blond hair and two lengths of hair sticking up just above his forehead. And with a smile that could bring hope to anyone, no matter how dire the situation. Wearing a tight white T-shirt and brown cargo pants that hugged every bulging muscle. Holding a shopping bag with two liter bottles of soda.

All Might, the world's greatest hero.

With a burst of wind, All Might spring towards the sludge villain with great speed. He pulls back his fist…

"Texas Smash!"

...and sends it flying right into the sludge villain. The force creates a large gust of wind that blows apart the sludge villain. Izuku stares on in awe of All Might's pure strength. All Might lets out a triumphant laugh and turns to Izuku.

"Well, sorry about that. I would have gotten here sooner, but the sewers are so confusing."

All Might's voice booms with confidence and power. Even when he's being casual, All Might still radiates pure heroism. Izuku can't help but just keep staring. He's completely starstruck. All Might begins opens the bottles of soda in his bag and sets them on their sides so that they'll drain out. He then begins to gather up the sludge villain. Izuku snaps out of his awe and walks over to All Might.

"U-Um, Could I help?"

All Might looks at Izuku with his ever present smile still beaming at full power.

"Why of course young citizen. Just make sure to be careful."

Izuku nods and carefully help All Might gather up the sludge villain. By the end of it Izuku looks like he's going to be sick, but with his help All Might successfully is able to gather up the sludge villain and capture him in the two soda bottles. Izuku suddenly remember his notebook and takes it out of his backpack, along with a pen.

"All Might, would you please give me an autograph?"

All Might puts the villain soda bottles into his pants pockets and walks over to Izuku.

"Of course. It would be my pleasure."

All Might grabs the pencil and the notebook from Izuku's hands. He hesitates for a moment when he sees the condition of the notebook.

'I wonder what caused this.'

All Might signs the notebook and hands it back to Izuku. Izuku starts to bow repeatedly.

"Thank you so much! This will be a family heirloom!"

All Might gives Izuku a small two finger salute and prepares to jump away.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get this villain to the police. Thank you for your assistance. There's no time to lose."

Izuku stops bowing and remembers that he needs to ask All Might a question. All Might crouches down and is just about ready to jump away.

"Thanks for your support!"

All Might springs away, letting off a loud boom. As he's flying through the air, he feels something strange on his leg. All Might looks back and sees Izuku hanging onto his leg for dear life. The wind is blowing Izuku's face all around as he holds onto All Might's leg. All Might tries to get Izuku to leg go of his leg.

"Let go young man. I love my fans but this is a bit much."

Izuku resists All Might's attempts to remove him from his leg.

"If I let go I'll die!"

All Might immediately stops trying to pry Izuku off of his leg.

"True enough."

Izuku keeps holding onto All Might's leg.

"I need to ask you something."

All Might starts looking for a place to safely land.

"Alright, but keeps your eyes and mouth closed."

Izuku closes his eyes and mouth and his face stops being blown around by the wind. But blocked out by the sound of the wind rushing past his ears, is the sound of All might letting out a small cough. A drop of blood runs along All Might's cheek as he begins falling back to the ground.

'Damn.'

Bakugou was pissed. Normally he'd be in at least a somewhat good mood, but something about his interaction with Izuku earlier had really set Bakugou in a bad mood. Bakugou is walking down an alleyway with two of his lackies. It was a bit quite so one of them decided to try and break the silence.

"Yo, Bakugou. Why are you so hard on Deku? Weren't you friends with him when you were younger?"

The other lackey immediately looks very worried. Bakugou stops walking and turns to face the lackey that spoke. That lackey suddenly looks very worried. Bakugou walks over to him with a glare on his face.

"Because that quirkless piece of shit needs to be taught a lesson for thinking that he's better than me."

This statement very much confuses the lackey.

"He thinks he's better than you? He certainly never acts like it."

Bakugou just gives the lackey a tsk and turns around. He starts walking out of the alley again. As he's walking he sees a soda bottle in his way and kicks it out of the way. It makes a heavy thump as it hits a wall.

"Haven't you seen it? Whenever I beat the shit out of that little nerd, he's always got this stupid calm look on his face, like he thinks I can't do anything to hurt him. I'll show that piece of shit that I'm not to be messed with."

As Bakugou finished his little spiel, he sees his lackies pointing at something behind him. The take off running as a wet slurping sound starts to build up behind Bakugou.

"What a good body."

Bakugou turns around to see a large green slime villain growing behind him.

Soon enough All Might lands on the top of a large building with a loud crash. Izuku lets go of All Might's leg and tries to catch his breath. This has been quite an eventful day for Izuku. Just the encounter with the sludge villain would have been much too much for some people, but hanging on for dear life from All Might's leg was a completely new level of crazy.

"So scary."

All Might gives a frustrated sigh as he looks out over the city.

"Of all the stupid stunts. I really don't have time."

All Might starts preparing to jump away again. Izuku sees this and tries to think of a way to stop him.

"All Might wait. I still need to ask my question!"

All Might looks back At Izuku, still preparing to jump.

"I really don't have the time."

This wasn't good. Izuku had to think quickly so that he could get All Might to stay. He needed to ask All Might this question, even if it was the last thing he ever did. He needed to know the answer.

"Is it possible to become a hero without using a quirk?"

All Might freezes when he hears this. Izuku uses this opportunity to keep talking to try and keep All Might here. Izuku looks down at the floor and starts fiddling with his fingers as he recalls the painful memories leading up to this point. However because of this Izuku doesn't notice All Might flinch in pain. All might's body starts to steam as Izuku begins his little speech.

"All my life I've been picked on, because I can't find out what my quirk is. Honestly, I've been starting to think that maybe I don't actually have a quirk. But despite this, I think saving people is the coolest thing a person can do. Even if I can't use my quirk, I still want to be a hero that can save people with a fearless smile, just like-"

Izuku lets out a yelp as he sees what looks like a skeleton. Standing in front of him is a short, severely malnourished man with long blond hair and black eyes wearing a super baggy white T-shirt and brown cargo pants. He looks like he'd fall apart if you so much as blew on him. Izuku doesn't know what to make of this.

"What?! You've deflated! Who are you?!"

The man keeps his mouth closed for a moment before speaking.

"I am All Might."

As he speaks a cascade of blood runs down his chin like it was pooling in his mouth. Izuku screams from the shocking sight.

"Now way! That's impossible."

All Might thinks it over for a moment before coming up with a way to explain it.

"You know how fat people sucking their gut in at the pool? I'm kind of like that."

Izuku has no idea what to think of this. All Might, the strongest hero in the world, is a secret skeletor!? What kind of twisted joke is this? All might is supposed to be the greatest hero, the pillar of justice. How could this shriveled up man be All Might? All Might sits down and rests his back against the railing.

"Fearless, huh? Listen kid, don't write about this on the internet."

Izuku gags as All Might lifts up the left side of his shirt. Previously hidden underneath is a massive wound. It looks like someone ran the dilapidated man through his stomach with a lance made of chainsaws. Massive scars laced all throughout the skin and muscle lead to the center of the wound where there's a massive indent permanently pushed into the man's body.

"Five years ago, a villain of unspeakable evil did this to me. My lungs were nearly destroyed and my stomach had to be removed. Ever since then I've been wasting away and I can only do hero work about three hours a day now."

Izuku felt like he was going to be sick. Such a wound was something that not many people could live through, let alone do what All Might does. How much pain must he be in?

"Five years ago? Does that mean that Toxic Chainsaw did that?"

All might lets go of his shirt and it falls to cover the wound. He gets a good chuckle out of this kid's enthusiasm.

"You did your homework kid. But that lowlife could never hope to do something like this. The fight I'm talking about was covered up, at my request. After all, the symbol of peace has to stand strong against villainy."

All Might uses the handrail to help himself off of the floor and stand up. He brushes the dust off of himself.

"The reason I smile is to keep the overwhelming fear and pressure I feel every day at bay. Without the ability to control your power, I don't think that you could become a hero."

This revelation shakes Izuku to his core. First his best friend abandons him, then his mother gives up on him, and now his hero is denying him. Izuku feels his spirit slowly dying in his chest. His dream truly was just a fantasy. All Might starts walking towards a door on the roof.

"If you really want to help people, then you should become a police officer or a paramedic. They sometimes get mocked, but they help people in ways that heroes can't. It isn't wrong to want to help people, but everyone has limits."

All Might opens the door and starts walking down the stairs, leaving a crushed Izuku shaking away on the roof. As All Might is walking down the stairs he looks at his pockets, only to see that the villain isn't in his pants.

'Damn!'

Suddenly there's a large boom in the distance. All Might looks out a window and sees a large ploom of smoke rising up in the distance. All Might starts running down the stairs as fast as he can.

Izuku heard the boom in the distance, but he was too lost in his own head to care. Izuku just starts walking down the stairs after All Might, albeit a bit slower than him. He sees All Might rushing down the stairs but is too dazed to wonder why he's running so fast. As Izuku starts walking home, he contemplates what All Might told him.

'Even the best hero in the world said it. I guess that this is it. I'll just have to find something new to do. Maybe-'

Izuku suddenly realises that he's surrounded by people. He looks around and sees that he's at the location of the villain attack.

'Did I come here subconsciously? I should just go. I can't do anything to help.'

Despite his own inner monologue, Izuku walks over to the police tape and sees the scene. It's in a small alley, with flames everywhere. There are burnt and blown up bits everywhere. Izuku then sees that the villain causing trouble is the sludge villain. When Izuku sees this, he gasps.

'Him, but All Might-'

Izuku then remembers that he held onto All Might's leg Right after All Might had captured the villain.

'This is all my fault! If I hadn't grabbed onto All Might, this wouldn't be happening!'

The sludge villain whirls around a central nexus, as if he's got someone in there. One of the people in the crowd says that he saw the creature grabbed a middle schooler. Izuku starts to tear up.

"It's my fault that All Might can't do anything. That kid is suffering and it's all my fault!"

As the sludge villain tries to capture the body of the kid, said kid turns to face the crowd. Izuku's jaw drops at what he sees. Bakugou is the one trapped in the villain. His eyes are piercing the crowd with a look of desperation. Before he can even register what he's doing, Izuku is suddenly running right towards the villain. The heroes see this and start running towards Izuku, trying to stop him.

"Stop the kid! That thing will kill him!"

Even despite the heroes cries for him to stop, Izuku just keeps running. The fear vanishes from his face as his speed increases by just a fraction and his movements become much more synced. The sludge villain sees Izuku running towards him and gets very angry.

"This kid again!"

Izuku's body moves on its own. He spins around, grabbing his backpack and unzipping it in one smooth motion. He then throws the backpack and its contents at the villain. It's aimed at the villain's eyes and it hits. When his notebook hits the villain in the eyes, Izuku can hear a tick, and can feel closer to, something he can't quite make out. This also causes the villain to loosen his grip on Bakugou just enough that Izuku can pull away some of the sludge on Bakugou's mouth. Izuku starts ripping away as much of the sludge as he can. Bakugou is none too pleased about this.

"What are you doing you piece of shit!"

In that instant, everything came rushing back to him. Every insult, every bruise, every burn, every broken bone. Yet, despite everything Bakugou's done to him, he can only think of one answer:

"I can't just let you die!"

The sludge villain recovers and recovers Bakugou's mouth.

"I've had enough of you kid!"

The sludge villain creates a fist of sludge and swings it at Izuku. Izuku sees the fist and prepares to dodge it. However, before he can, him and Bakugou are suddenly grabbed from behind by someone and the fist of sludge suddenly splatters into millions of pieces. Izuku looks to see who saved him and Bakugou and is shocked to see that it's All Might in his muscle form.

"Tell you what kid, I should really practice what I preach."

Blood begins shooting from All Might's mouth as he prepares a powerful punch.

"A HERO SHOULD ALWAYS BE WILLING TO RISK THEIR LIVES FOR OTHERS!"

All Might sends his fist into the sludge villain, creating a massive shockwave of air.

"Detroit smash!"

The wave of air blows the villain into hundreds of pieces and creates a massive boom that resonates for miles. Up above everyone's heads, the sky darkens. Soon, rain begins to fall on everyone's heads. All Might changed the weather with a single punch. The crowd cheers as All Might stand triumphantly over Izuku and Bakugou.

Afterwards, Izuku was scolded by the heroes for running headlong into danger, while Bakugou was praised for his bravery and his amazing quirk. Once the pieces of the villain were gathered up, Izuku and Bakugou were allowed to head home. Once the shock of the event wore off, Izuku was reminded of the fact that, despite what he'd done, he'd still be resigned to being just another bystander. Suddenly he hears a shout behind him. He turns around and sees Bakugou glaring him down.

"Listen Deku, what happened today, never happened. Got it?"

Izuku nods and Bakugou turns and starts walking away. This confuses Izuku a bit, but at least he wasn't beating him up, so that was a plus. Izuku turns to start walking back home again, when out from behind a corner, All Might suddenly rushes in, in his muscle form.

"I am here!"

Izuku is shocked at this.

"All might?! I swear I haven't posted anything on the internet about you!"

All might chuckles a little bit at Izuku's panic.

"No need to worry young man! I'm-"

All Might suddenly reverts to his true form with a poof and he vomits some blood onto the pavement. Once All Might recovers, he gives a slight cough and a smile before continuing.

"I wanted to thank you. If you hadn't run in there, I would have just been another bystander, helpless to do anything. I would have just been fake muscles and insincerity. But you and your words spurred me to action. And for that I thank you. But I must ask you something."

The last part really had Izuku confused. What could All Might possibly want to ask him? All Might's smile shrivels a little bit as he looks at Izuku.

"When you ran at the sludge villain, I was able to see your face. The fear and sadness just drained from you as you ran towards the villain. Do you have an explanation for this?"

Izuku wonders about it himself. He isn't sure why that happens sometimes.

"I don't. It just sort of happens sometimes. Whenever I get into a fight, my mind clears of all other thoughts and my emotions drain away. While I'm like that, it's like my body moves on its own. And this time with the sludge villain was different for some reason. When I threw my backpack at him, I somehow knew exactly how to throw it to hit him right where it'd hurt the most. And when it did hit him, I heard a strange tick in my head, like on a countdown."

All Might's smile returns as Izuku recounts what he felt during his encounter with the sludge villain.

"Alright. I think I have an idea of what happened kid. Don't worry about it. For now, I just have one thing to say to you."

All might points at Izuku with confidence he normally only shows in his muscle form.

"You to, can become a hero..."

At hearing this, Izuku breaks down. He falls to his knees and starts bawling his eyes out. As the tears roll down his face, Izuku feels truly happy, for the first time in as long as he can remember. Finally, he knew that he could become a hero. Despite what everyone else had said for all these years, Izuku can finally chase after his dream. All Might raises his arm up.

"I deem you worthy of inheriting my quirk."

Izuku looks up at All Might and can only say one thing.

"Huh?"


End file.
